‘It’s not a normal game,’ Brière says of facing Flyers; Pacioretty won’t play

Playing against former teammates is nothing new for the Canadiens’ Daniel Brière. He did it after he left the Phoenix Coyotes and again after he left the Buffalo Sabres. And he’ll do it for a third time Saturday when he faces his old teammates from the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN Radio 690).

“(The scheduling) makes it a little bit easier on the preparation, because for me — because personally — it’s not a normal game,” Brière, who is happy to get it over with early in the season, told reporters after practice Friday in Brossard. “You’re facing your ex-teammates. I have a lot of friends there. It’ll be a little tougher, but I really believe that playing it in Montreal makes it a little easier.”

Brière added that the friendships he cultivated during his years in Philadelphia will be on hold for at least a few hours.

“I don’t expect any breaks from any of them,” he said. “You try to approach the game like it’s any other one but, obviously, there’s a little bit more on the line with your friends and trying to prove something among them. I’m sure little battles here and there are going to happen. On Saturday night, I face my friends, but once the puck drops they have a job to do and so do we. You have to leave the friendships behind until after the game.”

On the other side of the ice, Hal Gill is looking forward to being back in Montreal and seeing his old Canadiens teammates.

“You never know and that’s what makes Montreal so great,” Gill, who made the Flyers after signing a tryout contract, told The Gazette’s Dave Stubbs about the reception he will get from Canadiens fans. “The fans are awesome, but I’m on the bad guys now.

“I loved my time in Montreal and my family loved it,” Gill added, “so I would expect nothing but huge cheers like P.K. (Subban) gets.”

The Canadiens held an optional practice Saturday morning in Brossard and the only player who didn’t skate was Josh Gorges. Defenceman Nathan Beaulieu, who was called up from the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs on Friday night, took part in the practice.

Max Pacioretty won’t play against the Flyers due to an upper-body injury and will join George Parros, who has a concussion, on the sidelines. Ryan White and Michael Bournival will both play against the Flyers.

Am I the only one who has a hard time believing that Michel Therrien would put out a lineup, allocate ice time, and give assignments to players based on favouritism? Or based on anything other than his actual belief that it was the best possible game plan?

I just can’t believe he would give Desharnais the minutes and assignments over Galchenyuk out of favouritism, language concerns, politics, or vet vs rookie stuff.

He’s a professional hockey coach. He might be making a mistake, but is there any way he’s actually playing politics with his game plan? That’s hard to swallow. Just my opinion.

You are habsolutely right. As a coach, there is only one incentive: win and keep your job. Some gm might lean hard on the coach to help develop some young kids, but at the end of the week, they look at the win and loss columns.

Right on, Bill. There is no way Therrien hands out ice-time based on anything other than the belief that the players he sends out can do the job. He may be making a mistake, but he’s not acting out of favouritism or language bias.

As for all the criticism of his decisions – the Habs have played all of one game. I think we should wait a bit before jumping on the coach, but I don’t think the Habs lost on Tuesday because Therrien made poor personnel decisions. They lost because they took too many penalties, their top two lines were ineffective, and their powerplay went -1 on the night. The penalty kill, however, which many criticize because DD gets too much time and PK not enough, did pretty well, giving up only one goal on about six or seven occasions; and that one was 3-on-5.

That’s all true Bill. Could you provide any reason why Eller gets treated so much differently then DD? I have no doubt if Eller played like DD he’d be a heathy scratch most nights. It’s perplexing the seemingly double standard so people reach for an explanation.
Perhaps the explanation is as simple as MT is a crappy coach?

The big problem for the Habs is practice. No one gets nailed in practice. What works there doesn’t always work when someone is enthusiastic about stopping you. The Habs have a bunch of highly skilled but small forwards who are thought to be able to really pick spots, if left alone to do that. That logic is flawed (see shootout record).

If the team ever amounts to anything most of the guys on the PP won’t be there. The kids will be. But Montreal isn’t Edmonton. Playing kids and losing won’t be appreciated, despite all the high picks. So Therrien makes the best of what he has and tries to share the ice as best the situation allows.

I don’t think he has an agenda, but I think he has a crutch: He will default to playing veterans who he trusts rather than kids that he doesn’t (regardless of whether the veterans have actually earned that trust anymore than the kids)

It is a pretty common coaching bias. If it is an explicit intent to not overburden kids and impede their development, fine. On the other hand if it is just lazy conventional wisdom embracing nonsense…

We have – what is it – three Francophone players on the team? Fewer than the Flyers. Even if those three didn’t deserve their place, three players would have no more than a minimal effect on the team overall. Unless you think Francis Bouillon keeping Davis Drewiske in the pressbox is hurting our D.

More to the point, three roster players out of 22 don’t make the team “francophone” any more than they turn a contender into a non-contender.

Those three players by the way account for $8.5M or 12% of the cap. It’s roughly what we spend on our two goalies and what we paid Scott Gomez.

Like most of what we read here, this argument isn’t even logical. It makes climate change denialism seem thoughtful.

Tired of hearing that a certain goalie owns a certain team, like Reimer owning the Habs in Montreal. Way I see it, we scored 3 goals against Reimer by going hard to the net. Why can’t we do it regularly? A goalie that can see a puck, usually stops it.

Looking forward to seeing the 4th line bang some bodies tonight. Moen looked good in the preseason and looked good the other night. Will be a good energy line, but some will need to take care of Rinaldo, he will be running our rookies all night long.

They have to get some threats established down low as teams have been taking away the point. It’s like getting the running game going in football to open up the passing game. If they can’t figure out how to score down low, the PP is screwed.

it’s simple watch these goofs on the first unit they get the puck and they just stand still making it so easy for the PK to put pressure on them. How Galchenyuk Eller aren’t the first unit everytime is brutal.

I like Briere on the PP. He has always been good on the PP and is a perfect secondary option for Markov and the cross-ice one-timer. The problem is with DD and Max. They are both one-dimensional. A good PP is where guys are both shooters and passers. The only spot where you can be one dimensional is the guy who stands in front of the net. Max should be in front where he can pop out for a quick shot when the puck is down low.

I agree 100%, I’ve never liked Pacioretty as a PP guy, and DD….I have no problem with Briere because he’s nifty and can hurt you a few different ways. I’ll take Gallagher in front of the net anyday though. Subban Markov full 2 mins as well.

she is an absolute joy..I am so in love..she is a little crabby these days, at the ripe old age of 4 months she is teething..drooling, chewing, and unhappy particularly in the evening..only mummy and some time granny will do..hope they come out soon, its hard to see her so uncomfortable

My granddaughter just started Kindergarten and has a new “bug” every week so far. The latest must have really been “new”, as both mommy and daddy got it bad too! Big brother (10) decided to move himself in with his aunt and cousin (9) two blocks away until the epidemic subsided (yes, seriously)

Just read the Allen Globensky article. We were actually in the same class at South Shore catholic High and for a few games on the school team that I captained. He would just go in the corner and growl and it was like Moses parting the Red Sea, the opposition let him have the puck. Unfortunately that only lasted a few games as his old man was on his case about poor marks he was grounded for the rest of our season. We also got into a wrestling match in class were I ended up on top somehow. I was grateful he was a good sport about it. He gave me his Maine Mariners game worn jersey and I mean worn…number 6. I’m glad he’s doing well and back in Greenfield Park. I will try to contact him as I have a few shots of him fighting an Ottawa 67’s player, someone called Laframboise if my memory serves me well, maybe he can use them in his book. I suppose Laframboise might be related to Don Cherry and perhaps both could be in Therrien’s fruit salad he spoke about a few days ago.

Yes its moving forward, we are hoping to be online in the next 2-3 weeks. Kerry is coming over to Germany in the next week or so. So I have a production company that will make a trailer for the charity. I’ve also found and spoken to a doctor that has a technology to repair the damages done with concussions. I’ll tell you about it in a few days.

Give the team 10-games and you’ll have a better picture of the direction they’re heading.
I have a weird feeling we’re in for a long season. The team is no better than last year. where as most of the teams in the eastern conference made changes for the better.
Yes we have gotten tougher with injury prone tough guys that will be injured most of the season. Hard to say what’s going to happen with this gang. Sit back and wait!!

First time posting. Don’t agree with all comments although I find some interesting. I like the Habs this year. They’ll be fine if they stay healthy. Give them a couple of years. I am not a Price basher but I think he will never be a “great” goalie. He is however very technically sound and that’s the problem. Compare him to Thomas, Brodeur, and you realize these guys flop and are successful. He does not seem to adapt to anything else but being technical (moving side to side, knowing when to stay up or down). Unfortunately, that can win you most games, but not enough to take the team to a championship. Just saying.

One of the things Waite is working on with Price is how to be more instinctual and read the play better, so I am expecting some improvement in his play eventually in that regard.

As for comparison to Thomas, he was playing the the Swedish Elite League when he was Price’s age, a full six years from being a starter in the NHL. I think it is a tad early for “never be a great goalie” declarations.

Finally hockey tonight..seems like forever, we were spoiled by the condensed schedule last year..its going to take time to adjust..I see below the word “slut” being thrown around, I count a grand total of 3 or 4 women that post on here..wonder which one of us it is..

Hey Mavid, you know, I thought I was humorously quoting Ferris Bueller down there with that. Apologies. I’ll go delete it. Should’ve thought about that a little harder. I always considered Ferris pretty inoffensive, but out of context it doesn’t really work, eh?

Mornin’, Jim.
In answer to your question, he lines up against himself.
Reminscent of a scene from A Southern Yankee, starring Red Skelton:

“Hot on the heels of Columbia’s The Fuller Brush Man, MGM released another Red Skelton gagfest, A Southern Yankee. Set during the Civil War, the film casts Skelton as bumbling bellboy Aubrey Filmore. Yearning to help the Northern cause by becoming an undercover spy, Aubrey succeeds beyond his wildest dreams when circumstances force him to pose as notorious Southern secret agent Major Drumman (George Coulouris), aka “The Grey Spider”. Infiltrating rebel territory, our hero does his best (which is none too good) to intercept the Grey Spider’s messages and smuggle them to the North. Along the way, he falls in love with pert Southern belle Sallyann Weatherby (Arlene Dahl). Many of the side-splitting gag routines were devised by Buster Keaton, notably the now-famous scene in which Aubrey gingerly walks across the battlefield between Northern and Southern lines carrying a two-sided flag — the Northern Stars and Stripes on one side, the Southern Stars and Bars on the other — a strategy that works until the wind suddenly changes! — New York Times

Habs are paying him $4M and the Flyers are paying him $833,333 this year and 3 more after.
Hmmm…if he scores 2 goals and a few assists then batts one into the Habs net, then all his employers might be happy.

Gentleman Jim! There is a chance of 0-2, then 0-3, and so forth. Brace yourself. If the unthinkable happens, au revoir Coach, and how about a trade of Price and Gionta for Jocelyn Thibaut, Martin Rucinsky, and Andrei Kovalenko?

Eddie!
I agree with a lot of your post below. PK is the best Penalty Killer in the league, and I am giving Therrian 20 games to see if he can get our discipline in order so we don’t even need him on the PKill. The weakest part of our game is goals against, not a knock on Price because it is a whole team stat that has to change, or Therrian is taking us on a ride without a driver this year.!

Morning Ian. On the coaching scale, Therrian is 0-1 in my book. If he continues to be stubborn and unflexable in rewarding performance with ice time he needs to go. And it’s not just PK either. He seems to have some sort of a man crush on DD. How else can you explain the continued amount of ice time he gets at the expense of the bigger and more talented Eller?

Or considering the habs have played one game he is trying to give DD a chance to find himself, instead of writing him off and playing him with the scrubs. I mean seriously, one game and you guys are already complaining about the players ice time? My god that is sad. FACT: Habs fans are not happy unless they have something to bitch about, at least fans at HIO.

I don’t believe there is any language/ethnic motivation, but successive Habs coaches have not hesitated in playing Tomas Plekanec with scrubs, or playing Lars Eller with scrubs or even benching him for no reason. Both are better hockey players than Desharnais.

Desharnais’s problem is that he is so one dimensional that there is essentially only one way he can be successful: played on a pure offence line with big and/or aggressive wingers. He has vision and excellent passing skills to create scoring chances under those circumstances. There are about a hundred ways Eller or Plekanec could be useful.

What ought to alarm, and does disturb many Habs fans is that the entire lineup, situational usage etc of all the forwards is essentially held hostage to Desharnais’s limitations. And when he ends up with more ice time than any other forward it really grinds.

The potential silver lining in a short Pacioretty absence is the decoupling of hime from Desharnais. If he can’t do that then Therrien will have to figure out how to limit Desharnais’s time and play Pacioretty in other circumstances. The easiest way is to cut the desharnais line’s time by 3-5 minutes per game and replace DD with Eller on the PP

Mountain View – The company behind the world’s most popular search engine says it has joined forces with the makers of Zoomies to create smart glasses for referees.
Google co-founders and longtime hockey fans Larry “Turn The” Page and Sergey “Dynamo” Brin told reporters today that officiating in the National Hockey League is so atrocious – and getting worse – that the league needs help to fix the problem.
“I did a search on refereeing in the NHL and .21 seconds later I had 890,000 results that offered variations of ‘idiots,’ ‘numbskulls’ and ‘blockheads,” Page said. “Bing, by the way, only called up 74,000 results and it took five seconds.”
Page said the company’s latest invention, Google Glass – eyeglasses equipped with mini-computers – “will be a game changer in hockey, by giving referees the means to watch play and have it instanty ‘decoded’ over the Internet by experts and software programs at the other end. No way will you ever see another high stick, cross check or slash go unpunished. The referee will have the benefit of off-ice resources to assist in making sure players who don’t abide by the rules get caught.”
Google has gone one step further to ensure Glass is infallible in detecting fouls. It’s been combined with Zoomies – “hands-free binoculars you can wear like sunglasses!” – to create the next generation of eyewear that provides both insight and far sight (“300 per cent better than normal vision!”).
“Referees will no longer have to position themselves in the middle of fray, where close quarters can prove to be something of a blind spot in making calls,” Page said. “With GlassZoomies, they can stand half-a-rink away and still catch all the action. No more hopping out of the way when the players follow the puck to where the refs are standing. They’ll make all the right calls – and look good doing it.”
Referees will have a choice of either black-and-white or white-and-black GlassZoomies, depending on whether they’re at home or on the road, Page said.
GlassZoomies are also great for watching birds, attending concerts, threading needles, and making sure the neighbour’s wife is safe at night when she goes to bed.
Brin said his company is also working on a prototype for a new whistle that will not only stop play but also goons from committing violence when operated in the ultrasound mode.

During the last full 82 game schedule in 11/12, the Habs finished 28th, yet 1 shining aspect of the Habs that year was the Penalty Kill Unit.

That year, the Habs ranked 2nd and scored 10 Short Handed goals which was 4th best in the NHL.

The D crew was lead by Gorges-Gill, and when Gill was traded, Subban moved into the Top Unit.
Up front, Plex was the man and only after injuries, did Eller step in to end up with the 2nd most PK minutes.
Eller scored 2 short handed goals that year.

Last year under new Coach Therrien and crew, the Habs backed way down to 23rd and was only 1 of 2 teams that did not score a short handed goal.
What changed?

One would hazard a guess and think that the new coaching staff would not have tinkered too much with what proved to be a great unit.

What actually happened, was ever dangerous Eller was moved down to 4th PK minutes behind Moen-Plex-Prust in that specific order.
Who would you fear on your PP concerning giving up short handed goals?
Moen and Prust, or Eller and possibly Galchenyuk? (note game 1 against Toronto)

Also last year on D, and before Diaz was hurt, Subban was playing 5th Dman minutes.
During the playoffs, Subban was completely benched on the PK unit – a PK Unit that was horrible.

Over the long run of 82 games, Specialty Teams make the difference between a playoff and non playoff team….

I am about to do perhaps the only thing you can’t do on H I/O that doesn’t involve 4 letter words or praising the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Brandon Prust was a tremendous surprise last year, but he’s become ineffective. In the playoffs he was ineffective (I know it is because he was injured but bear with me – and anyway so was Ryder but people dumped on him). This year he seems to be going the same way.

What we need from Prust is to contribute to a physical 4th line that spends most of its time in the opponent’s zone, move up to the top 3 lines as needed, and defend his teammates on occasion.

But if he’s injured he can’t do any of that.

Why did he have to fight three times in the pre-season – and each time with a young guy who was trying to impress mgmt?

Also, let’s face it – he does try to draw boarding penalties. I’ve never seen a player fly headfirst into the boards as often as him. Maybe that’s how he gets injured too?

While I appreciate your courage for posting your opinion the only part of the post I would agree to is the fact that he may be injured. Prust is far from being a problem with this team. In fact he doesn’t even crack the top 10 in my book.
Tuesday night provided a good example.
Pleks missing a wide open net
Pleks taking a stupid penalty
Briere, our new $4 million man, barley being noticed on the ice.
DD. our 3.5 man playing top 6 minutes and again looking totally over matched.
Markov with a brain fart and no speed.
Diaz looking like a one dimensional player.
The coach giving more minutes to many undeserved players while the two best players, Eller and Galchenyuk get 12 to 13 minutes a game.

Prust very well may be hurt but he’s not even close to the real issues with this team.

Prust also seems to be getting the short end of the stick from the referees – perhaps with reason.
During his career, he has been called for numerous embellishment penalties and others were not called.

The worst thing to do in the NHL is make the referee gang look bad, and Prust has done that over the years.
When a player does that, the refs will be looking for payback such as calling a borderline penalty on Prust, and letting an opposing player get away with one against Prust.
It has begun.

HIO SUMMIT TOUR INFORMATION
There are about 160 of us going to the Hall Of Fame Tour at the Bell Center Sat. 10:15am. You already have your tickets!

Bell Center request to me is,– how many of us want to go to the Bell Center Tour for a special price of $6, right after the H of F tour. Please let me know who wants to go ASAP, so we can book you in.
Anyone can come.

We’ve looked at the Hamilton Bulldogs potential roster in early September, a difficult task seeing as so many players were invited to the Canadiens’ training camp, and others as Bulldogs training camp tryouts. There was lots of chaff to separate from the wheat, and we had to figure out which player might sneak on to the Canadiens roster to start the season. The churning has stopped for now, the game of musical chairs has ended, and we have a largely formed roster to examine. For now. Until the injuries and callups start.

The team will be without a great big piece on defence, with Jarred Tinordi having stuck with the Grand Club. Despite my hope that he be kept in the minors to at least start the season for more training, injuries on the Canadiens blue line and a solid showing by Jarred during camp meant that he was kept on the NHL roster.

In the forward group, my suspicion prior to the start was that Gabriel Dumont would stay in Montréal and platoon with Ryan White on the fourth line, but he had an uneven training camp, while Michaël Bournival knocked it out of the park, so the latter stayed and Mr. Dumont was sent down, even at the risk of losing him on waivers. So early in the season though, with every team chock full of prospects and players, none could spare the roster spot for him, and he landed safely back in Hamilton.

So at centre, we have Gabriel Dumont and Joonas Nattinen to handle the defensive side of things. AHL vet Martin St. Pierre will be counted on to provide offence, and Ben Duffy, last season’s LHJMQ scoring champion, will try to contribute as well. Maxime Macenauer, who won a job as a tryout, brings defensive skills and AHL experience, but not much else.

Louis Leblanc conversion to right wing continues, he’s listed as such on the roster. The pleasant surprise has been the play of Akim Aliu, a big tough skilled AHL vet who’s played a few NHL games, and who the Canadiens’ brain trust know from his Chicago days. He’s on a 25 game pro-tryout contract, but the initial reports out of camp are encouraging. He brings a skillset that isn’t common in our farm system. Patrick Holland and Sven Andrighetto will be counted on to bring offence, and big AHL vet Mike Blunden brings size and physical play, along with rookie pro Stéfan Fournier, to complete a nice blend at this position.

On left wing, a position where we had no incumbents this summer, AHL vets Justin Courtnall and Nick Tarnasky will plug the formerly huge hole. Erik Nystrom, a 2012 draft choice from the Swedish Elite League, will also be on the roster on a 25-game pro tryout basis.

Defence might be a headache, in that there were only two lefties among the Canadiens’ strong prospect group, and they kept one in Jarred Tinordi. Further, Nathan Beaulieu, the other leftie, has been yo-yoing between the Bulldogs and Canadiens to start the season, as injuries to Davis Drewiske, Douglas Murray and Alexei Emelin complicate matters for Michel Therrien. So Bulldogs coaches Sylvain Lefebvre and Donald Dufresne still have prospects Greg Pateryn, Morgan Ellis, Magnus Nygren and Darren Dietz to work with, but they’re all righties. Nathan McIver (25-game tryout) and Joel Gervais-Chouinard, both AHL vets and lefties, will try to counter this imbalance. Hamilton native Drew Shiestel (sounds like ‘pistol’) completes the picture, and he’s another rightie.

In goal, there is no big surprise that Dustin Tokarski will be the starter, and erstwhile Swiss-leaguer Robert Mayer will act as his backup.

On paper, this seems like a stronger group than last season. The wave of rookie prospects who swarmed the team last season will be more experienced. They’ll have stronger support with the AHL vets brought in. There will be bit more size in the lineup, specifically at forward, to help weather the intimidation tactics a young team is bound to face.

Forward:

Holland-St. Pierre-Leblanc

Andrighetto-Dumont-Aliu

Courtnall-Nattinen-Blunden

Tarnasky-Macenauer-Fournier

Injured: Steve Quailer, Christian Thomas

Spare: Nystrom, Duffy

Defence:

Beaulieu, Pateryn

Chouinard, Ellis

Nygren, Dietz

Spare: Schiestel, McIver

Goal:

Tokarski
Mayer

Notes:

1) The line combinations are not intended to reflect the current lines used by Coach Lefebvre, or the preferred matchings. Instead, we put four centres in, matched them up with wingers who might complement them best, and who might be best suited for Top 6-Bottom 6 roles. Expect vigourous shuffling and re-shuffling of lines early this season at least.

2) Because there is a lack of able left-wingers, we switched over Messrs. Holland and Andrighetto to the left side, to plug holes. Expect wingers to play their off-wing a lot this season.

3) Steve Quailer and Christian Thomas don’t appear in the lineup, it’s probably a technical reason that accounts for this. They aren’t on the official Canadiens or Bulldogs roster, but habsprospect.com list them both as “injured-no details” on the Canadiens roster. Probably like Aaron Palushaj last season, they’ll be allowed to recover and then sent down to Hamilton. Both are immune to waivers for now, so there’s no worry there, but they’ll both have something to prove once they hit the AHL. They’ll both vie for Top 6 status, and Christian Thomas will try to make management forget his poor training camp showing. As for Steve Quailer, it’s all of last season he has to atone for. He’s a big putative scoring winger, he has an opportunity to move up if he seizes it.

Again, both these players are listed as right wingers, but they’ll be part of the winger carousel, and at some point will probably have to play on the left.

4) The defence pairings will be similarly affected. Too many righties, a coach with a mandate to develop his prospects and give them icetime, some AHL vets who’ll want to play, callups, it will be a constant mix-and-match on D too.

5) Sent down to the Wheeling Nailers are goalie Mike Condon, defenceman Matt Grassi, 2012-13 Bulldog Stefan Chaput, and rookie checking forward Stephen MacAulay. While this may be disheartening to these guys, they’ll be available for callups when injuries strike the Canadiens and Bulldogs and the dominoes tumble. They’re in a better position than the raft of players who were outright released by the Bulldogs out of camp.

6) Peter Delmas has been loaned to the Orlando Solar Bears. Cool team name, but not a great sign for Mr. Delmas.

———————————————————————–… you know, because there’s no way hundreds of overcompetitive stars with massive egos would ever cheat to gain an edge with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.–Bill Simmons

And actually, I missed it, but Christian Thomas is listed in the Canadiens with the asterisks to indicate he is injured, but not Steve Quailer. Not sure why. I’ll trust http://habsprospects.com/montreal.html on this one.

Therrien’s job is to win. Period. End of story. If the Habs win with Subban on the bench for the penalty kill and Desharnais on the ice for the power play, no one will judge Therrien negatively.

If the Habs lose more than they win, then Therrien will be expected to switch things up.

I am not a Therrien fan. I never liked him. And I never supported his hiring as the coach. I am very critical of some of his decisions including the two I listed above;

But we need to give the coach 20 games and see where he takes us with HIS “time on the ice” decisions.

No one here expects the Habs to win the Cup – virtually no one. So Therrien is almost entirely off the hook any way. I have been told to be patient several times, by very knowledgeable posters, because the Habs 64 million is just not going to be as competitive as the elite teams’ 64 million.

So Ronn, here’s knowing that you have a poster who totally agrees with you. Galchenyuk should be playing more. Desharnais should be moved or moved over to allow this enormous talent to emerge more quickly. Subban should be playing 28-30 minutes a night and not just 23-25, and especially on the penalty kill where he would undoubtedly become one of the LEAGUE’s top penalty killers.

I think the Canadiens are giving Desharnais an honest chance to prove that last year was a kind of sophomore jinx and that this year, with steady line mates and lots of ice time, he’ll fulfill the potential he showed a couple of years ago. If he doesn’t show he merits the time he’s given and the line he’s on, he’ll quickly fall out of the Canadiens plans, especially with the group of talented young players on the team.

If it doesn’t work out, it’s unfortunate. I guess there aren’t a whole lot of Martin St. Louis-type players out there, who, when given the chance, prove that being a smaller player doesn’t mean you can’t be an elite player in the NHL. Players don’t get many chances like DD has right now. Personally, I don’t see the kind of effort that he should be giving every night. It could have something to do with the length of his contract, but in his situation, I think he’s still a largely unproven NHLer. He will not be signing another sweet deal if he goes bust on this one.

Not too many Therrien supporters in our midst, Merrytimes, so the bashing of him will continue from familiar sources. The Habs took too many penalties and some were horrible. Gionta appears to be nursing his injury, and it speaks to a lack of depth, if he has to be inserted into the line-up. A bright note is how Eller is now the most versatile forward, supplanting Pleks. How many games left in the season?

Too much ice time for DD…not producing and still MT uses him….and another thing what’s with everyone going behind the net or in the corners when in the offensive zone…when I learnt to play the game I was told if you don’t have the go in front of the net….seems like we are the only team doing this

Looks a lot like last season, doesn’t it. Just insert Brière for Ryder.
Coaches are supposed to play the players that have it going. Not just keep throwing lines out there that aren’t working. The coach has a game to win, not egos to stroke.
The EGG line was going on Tuesday. Their ice time didn’t reflect that. MT didn’t use his hottest line. BAD decision. Habs lost.
Maybe, he’ll smarten up tonight.

Duck’s Poop:
Optimism I have over strong play from our prospects feels like cheering for a future team, and comes nowhere close to cheering for the present team, even with all its deficiencies.
Lecavalier looked good on the highlights from the Flyers loss. Still, their offense produced only one goal. Flyers are better with him than last year which is not to say he’s a piece-for-piece replacement for Briere. Briere is a good addition to the Habs, but the trepidation that will hang over his and our collective heads is whether DB will get injured.
There was trepidation over whether Parros would get injured before the regular season started, but it was over whether his shoulder would break-down. The lightning-quick appearance of a gruesome-looking head injury shocked and discombobulated a vast number.
There is a trade market value for any player, and the constant rants to trade Diaz or Desharnais is really talk about what draftpick from which future year one can get in return. How about a 2015 third or fifth? For those adept at cheering for the future, your hearts may beat faster with excitement.
Duck/Out….Peace.
“May you live in interesting times.”

Habs don’t play again after tonight until Wednesday. That’s two games in eight days with four whole days between each of them. This place will be unendurable for the next four days if we lose tonight. The Price haters, the DD haters, the Diaz haters, the MT haters, the tank brigade…. They’ll all be out in force.

It’s not a question of haters, it’s a question of questions… and unanswered and media unchallenged, repetitive coaching decisions that were totally exposed during last year’s playoffs..

Answer honestly.
In the long run, where are the Habs going when its # 1 Center for Even Strength minutes and PP minutes is Desharnais?
Before you answer that, have a look around the NHL as to whom the # 1 Centers are in both Even strength minutes and 1st unit PP minutes…and then the ability to stand strong and play playoff style hockey?

Next question:
Where are the Habs going when what should be at best a 3rd pair Dman in Diaz playing Top 4 minutes and Top Unit PK…while the Norris Trophy winner sits on the bench during the total short handed time?

Those questions are raised endlessly here and never answered. I don’t have the answers. I use the term “haters” loosely to refer to those who go on ad nauseam about how DD has no place on the team and it’s the worst contract ever and Diaz is soft as marshmallow and should be replaced by a tough, physical Dman.

Like many here, I’m starting to question Therrien’s coaching decisions, as well as the defensive system used by the team, more than last year. But at this point, I’m willing to wait a bit, say ten games, before making any judgments on the team. I do think, however, that Therrien is unlikely to be as successful as last year and that the Habs will be in tough to make the playoffs.

Desharnais’s contract may have been a mistake; I think it’s too soon to say. Bergevin will certainly make some mistakes as GM, but, as he himself said, the important thing when you make a mistake is not to compound it by making another mistake in an attempt to rectify it. I think we should wait a bit and see how things play out. The Habs have played exactly one game – and most agree they did not play well.

Contrary to popular belief around here, the Desharnais contract is not a bad contract and Bergevin rolled the dice at the time for all the right reasons…at that time
It was a question of going long and buying some UFA years.

Diaz?
As what the Hawks do with Nick Leddy, a 3rd pair even strength guy teamed up with a big fella, and 2nd Unit PP along with being a PP insurance policy if something happens to Subban Markov

This is a team game and the Habs lost as a team. From the get go in the second period they stopped skating. It was then just a question of time before they would be in trouble. When Pleks pulls a Gomez and glides across the opponents blue line looking for someone to pass to, instead of using his speed to create chances, he is not playing Habs hockey. When they use their speed and when they forecheck, they are hard to beat. I am not worried about their grit or size. I am worried about their tendency to ease up after the first period.

While driving tonight I caught part of the Vancouver Giants game on the radio. They were playing the Brandon Wheat Kings on the road, and it was Dalton Thrower’s first game of the season. True to reports, he was named Captain of the team and tallied a goal and an assist in a 4-3 loss to the home team. For his troubles, he was named the second star of the game.

Now it’s hard to make an accurate impression of a player’s performance by just relying on radio play-by-play, but the encouraging aspect we can take from it is that Dalton was used heavily by Coach Don Hay, being on the first pairing with Calgary Flames draft pick Brett Kulak, and playing on the first wave of both powerplays and penalty kills. Further, he was regularly praised by the broadcast team for his smart offensive zone plays, his hard shot, and his generalship, as well as his hard, effective work in the defensive zone.

His goal came very soon after the faceoff on a powerplay. As described by the play-by-play call, he got the puck, faked a slapper, deked around a would-be shot-blocker and sent in a soft wrister at the goalie while he was screened, and it found the back of the net.

On the defensive side, he was regularly pointed out as the reason the score was being kept close, and why the Giants were surviving the powerplay opportunities by the Wheat Kings. He was singled out on a couple of opportunities for his positioning, anticipating plays and closing the distance with opposition shooters before they could get the puck away.

So at first glance, it appears that our plan is working. Dalton will get tonnes of icetime and responsibility in Vancouver, will get a chance to prove himself and regain some of his confidence he may have lost in Saskatoon last season. If he seizes this opportunity and leads his team as he did tonight, he should get the Entry Level Contract he’s been seeking, and turn pro next season, joining a strong group of prospects in Hamilton and taking the next step in his career path.

———————————————————————–… you know, because there’s no way hundreds of overcompetitive stars with massive egos would ever cheat to gain an edge with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.–Bill Simmons

I watched a fair amount of the Blades version of HBO behind the scenes as the Blades prepared for hosting the Memorial Cup. From what I saw, the coach of Saskatoon, Lorne Molleken (spelling?) left me wondering if indeed the game and players had passed him by.

I too, thought it was interesting, what Patches had to say about getting away from what we do best,speed.We had no flow to the game on Tues,because of the penalty’s called,we have to play our game,not let ourselves be distracted,thats why we did so poorly in the playoffs,we let the Sens dictate how we should play.It was our speed that got us second place in the conference last season.

I know all the things you can say about other teams being tough,and hard to play against,but everyone says our speed is what makes us hard to play against.When White refused to fight,the other player got a penalty,thats what we should do,make them take the penalties,they would soon get fed up of always beng on the PK,while we get PP goals,like last season.

I have heard all the arguments about being pushed around,but how many games did we win last season,when we played our game,how many times did we beat the Gooins,I think there is your answear.

I listened to the reports on last nights Vancouver game they were beaten by speed,nothing left after the second period.
GO HABS GO

Speed is one thing, skating/moving the feet/commitment to all zones are whole other issues.

The bottom line was the Habs Top 6 played horsecrap in all zones and contributed zero offense, left the D and Carey hung out to dry, while allowing multiple scoring chances.
Had it not been for the Eller line, it would have been a total embarrassment.

Apart from that, the supposed vets took undisciplined penalties that set the tone.
Plex’s double minor for high sticking lead to the 1st Leafs goal.
Max and Briere had back to back lazy penalties for hooking and holding.
Habs also picked up another undisciplined penalty for too many men on the ice.

When the Habs did get a chance on the PP, they gave up a short handed, spirit killing goal. Place the blame where you wish.

The icing on the cake?
An ill advised panic pinch by Diaz early in the 3rd period with the score still tight down only 3-2.
Not only was it a terrible pinch, but firing the puck directly at a Leaf resulting in a 2-1 for the 4th Leafs goal.
That’s stuff you expect from a rookie or a not very good Dman.

There were displays of spectacular and mediocre goaltending from last night’s set of games. Cliches like “bailed out his defense,” and “kept his team in the game” could have been used liberally by the play-by-play announcers especially in the Anderson-Miller game.

I’m happy to see Beaulieu with the big club, but I’m puzzled by why he is with the team: we already have Gorges, Subban, Markov, Diaz, Cube, and Tinordi. I understand that Murray and Drewiske are on the mend, but it would make little sense to have Beaulieu sit as our 7th D when he could get minutes in Hamilton. So, the question becomes, which of the six will step aside if Beaulieu is to play? Perhaps more important, which of the six may we move/trade in order to make room for Beaulieu?

Good call! Love the classic guitar line from “And Your Bird Can Sing” and of course all the stuff on “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. Hard to think a Beatle could be underrated, but he’s an underrated guitarist nonetheless.

Sorry that I bailed on this conversation after making such a provocative statement. But yes, I *like* Ringo more than Paul–though of course I would never make the ludicrous claim that Ringo was a better songwriter or contributed more to pop music than McCartney did.

There’s just a smugness to the Paul ‘persona’ that I can’t stand… Like he goes out of his way to come across as affable or easy-going while just barely disguising how in love with himself he is. I have more respect for the Harrison/Lennon unapologetic arsehole routine, I guess.

Regarding Eager, the guy has had a bunch of concussions and has never really been comfortable being an enforcer, IMO. He was a top line player for the Oshawa Generals in junior and was projected to be a solid 3rd line player in the NHL. It didn’t work out the way it was projected and he found himself getting his but kicked by guys like Lucic and other tough guys. If the habs picked him up he wouldn’t be nearly as effective as Parros fighting Orr, Kassian and Lucic. He’s basically a light heavyweight like Moen.

**edit, just checked eager out on Youtube for the first time in a while and he’s a bit more of a tough guy than Moen but still not in the super heavyweight class like Parros.

Agreed. I find it especially pathetic when a guy gets pressured into becoming an enforcer so late in his career, just to hang on to the dream. I mean, obviously he made some money at it, so more power to him, but it’s kinda pathetic just the same.

I don’t know, I didn’t see the game tonight but from the stats sheet it doesn’t look like he played with Horvat or Marner (who both had 2 assists tonight) or with Tierney (who had 2 goals tonight). Domi is serving a suspension. They may have been easing him back in as this was his first game after sitting a couple out injured

Actually, a good pairing in the pre-season was Diaz and Beaulieu. They played together in the Ottawa game where Ottawa pretty much went with their opening day roster and they acquitted themselves well.

Another option is to put Markov with Subban. That’s what they did last year to stop the bleeding.

I know but Diaz is taking a beating and I just think he was not the only one that was poor Tuesday. We also have to realize that a lot of what happens to Diaz is not 100% his responsibility. For example, Diaz does not put himself on the PK, MT is responsible for that. A coach’s job is to put players in positions where they can succeed. Also, Diaz is not responsible for the lack of physicality on the D. We all knew the Habs needed a RH physical D-man and MB failed to get one. Instead he resigned Drewiskie, who proved he can’t play the right side, and signed another left D-man who is physical but very slow (Murray).

Beaulieu is far from being nhl ready. So to satisfy your need to get rid of a player you do not like like diaz you are ready to scrap what will be a top 4 d-man in the future ? Far from being sure this is a wise move. Unless you are a new habs fan , don`t you find that we burned enough kids through the years ?

…I liked Diaz relative to Our assets a year or two ago, but TODAY He is redundant, and Beaulieu even while learning would have a much greater physical and speed/skill quotient on the ice than Diaz today

Beaulieu isn’t far from NHL ready at all. He may actually be NHL ready if he was given a chance. He is a 1st round pick. Was returned to Junior his draft year for a full season and then last year played a full season in the AHL, how would you have any idea if he is ready or not? Let him play some games first. He can’t be any worse than either Diaz or Bouillon.

Anyway, Beaulieu is left-handed while Diaz is right-handed. I don’t want Beaulieu, like Tinordi, playing his wrong side. Unless Markov gets injured or leaves, Nathan will stay in Hamilton. Also don’t forget; he should be in jail right now. You don’t promote a player after an off-season like that.

The problem is Diaz and Markov playing together. Put Diaz with an opposite style D-man and he would look much better. For example, I remember him playing with Emelin their first year and they were pretty good together. Habs need to hang on until Emelin comes back.

I tend to be a little more conservative than most, but I’d give him another year in the AHL. It sure won’t hurt. Beaulieu’s a better skater right now than Diaz, but I’m not sure his overall game is as good at this point, at the NHL level.